1. India’s tally rose to 73,70,468 on Friday as the country reported 63,371 new cases in a day. The country’s toll rose by 895 to 1,12,161. India’s active cases stood at 8,04,528, a decline from Thursday, while the recoveries reached 64,53,779. The recovery rate stood at 87.56% and the death rate was 1.52%.
  2. India will import 1 lakh metric tonne of liquid oxygen during the winter season to meet any unforeseen shortage, as coronavirus cases are expected to rise in cold weather, PTI reported quoting unidentified officials. HLL Lifecare Limited, a public sector undertaking, has floated a global tender on Wednesday on behalf of the Health Ministry for procuring the oxygen. It will be procured for various state and central government hospitals.
  3. The Union health ministry on Friday deployed high-level central teams to Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, which were reporting a rise in new coronavirus cases. It said these teams will support the state towards strengthening containment, surveillance, testing, infection prevention and control measures, and efficient clinical management of the positive cases.
  4. The Maharashtra government on Friday allowed local train services for women in Mumbai to resume from Saturday. Women will now be allowed to access train services between 11 am and 3 pm, and again from 7 pm till the last service. “During the said period, entry may be allowed to all ladies having valid tickets and to all emergency staff as well,” the state government said in a statement. “QR codes will not be required for ladies travelling during the said time period.”
  5. Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday said that he tested positive for coronavirus. The veteran Congress leader said in a tweet that he had quarantined at his home and asked people who came in contact with him recently to follow the Covid-19 protocols.
  6. United States President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday criticised each other in separate town halls, less than three weeks before the elections, The opponents spoke in simultaneous town halls broadcast on separate television networks after Trump refused to participate in a virtual debate. Biden accused Trump of having done “nothing” to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed over 2,16,000 Americans. He called the president’s response to the situation “panicked” and denounced him for concealing the deadliness of the virus.
  7. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday reiterated his criticism of the Centre over the International Monetary Fund’s estimate that India’s per capita Gross Domestic Product will shrink 10.3% till March 31, 2021. Gandhi said that Pakistan and Afghanistan had fared better than India in handling the outbreak of the coronavirus.
  8.   The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund said the global economic contraction caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is the largest in the last 80 years, raising the global poverty rate. The two financial organisations warned that the humanitarian crisis can further exacerbate conflict and violence.
  9. Hong Kong has banned all Air India and Vistara flights from October 17 to October 30 after a few passengers on their flights tested positive for the coronavirus after their arrival. This is the third time that Air India flights from India have been banned by the Hong Kong government for bringing passengers who tested positive for the infection.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 3.90 crore people and killed 11,00,364, according to Johns Hopkins University. The worldwide recoveries crossed 2.69 crore.